BROKEN MASK
(trick or treat, freak part 2)
Ben Newby hadn't gone trick-or-treating since his mother passed away. So when he got in his costume and headed over to Max's house, he couldn't help but feel a little sad. Ben felt even more upset with the fact that his father was off being happy on Halloween with Joyce Byers and her family, getting Will all ready for trick-or-treating. That was supposed to be Ben. He couldn't help but feel slightly jealous. Ben tried not to think about that, shaking his head to rid his thoughts as he walked up the Hargrove's driveway and knocked twice on the front door.
A tall teenager with a curly blonde mullet opened the door, a cigarette dangling between his lips. Ben moved his Batman mask up to rest on top of his head and waved at the intimidating teen. The man glared at him, "We're not handing out candy. Go away." As he was about to shut the door, Max appeared and squeezed herself past the man and out the door, standing next to Ben. "I'm going trick-or-treating with Ben, I'll be back around eleven-ish." She said, not asking. Max turned on her heel and grabbed Ben by the arm to drag him quickly away from the house. The teen rolled his eyes and slammed the door shut, causing Ben to jump at the harshness.
Ben turned to Max, "He seems nice." The sarcasm elicited a chuckle from Max, who also rolled her eyes. "He's an asshole. That was my step-brother, Billy." She told Ben, who then nodded. "I see. I like your costume, by the way. Michael Myers?" Ben complimented Max's costume. Max brought the mask sitting on her head down over her face and held up the fake knife in her left hand, lunging at Ben in an attempt to fake stab him. The boy laughed and lightly pushed her away, making her laugh and pull the mask back up. "Thanks. I like the Batman costume." She said, returning the compliment.
Ben pulled his mask down, "What? This old thing?" he questioned, using his best Batman voice. Which wasn't good at all, but it made Max laugh.
The pair walked down the street to the first house, Ben instantly recognizing who it belonged to. He smiled and grabbed Max gently by the arm and ran up to the front door, dragging her along. "Hey, what's with the grabbing–" Max asked, but was cut off by Ben opening the door and letting themselves in. Max's eyes widened, "Uh, isn't this considered breaking and entering?"
Ben chuckled and shook his head. "Nothing looks broken to me." He nudged the red-head and cupped his hands around his mouth. "DYLAN!" He shouted throughout the seemingly empty house.
A tall brunette girl stumbled her way down the hallway, having trouble walking in the heels she was wearing. Her hair was done neatly in two space-buns and she had on a pretty white dress. The girl looked annoyed and angry at first, but when she set eyes on Ben, her expression softened. "Ben! What's up buddy?" The tall teen, who Max assumed was Dylan, shuffled over and swooped the shorter boy in for a hug. "Wow, heels make you way taller than you already are." Ben's pointed out, his voice sounding muffled from his face being squished against the girls shoulder. Dylan snorted, "Aw, you jealous you're still a short little baby?" she pulled away and fake pouted at Ben, who then stuck out his tongue.
Max stood awkwardly three feet away from the two, clearing her throat to remind them of her presence. Ben looked over and his face flushed, feeling embarrassed that he forgot he had a new friend with him. "Oh, sorry. Dylan this is Max, a new friend of mine," he gestured from Dylan to Max. "Max, this is Dylan, also a friend of mine who I've known for quite a while." He then gestured from Max to Dylan, a nervous smile on his face. Ben had his closest friend meeting his new friend who he was becoming close with and feared they wouldn't get along or wouldn't like each other.
Dylan smiled a beautiful, bright smile and reached a hand out to Max, "Hi, it's nice to meet you! It's rare that I get to meet Ben's friends. Seeing as he usually has none." Dylan's statement elicited a chuckle from Max and a groan from Ben. Max shook Dylan's hand. "It's nice to meet you, too. I really like your Princess Leia costume." Max complimented, Dylan thanked her and did a little show-off twirl.
The three talked for a little while, eventually Dylan gave them a bunch of candy and shooed them out, informing them that she was going to a high school party and didn't want to be late.
The two went to some more houses, got some candy, scared some little kids, and had many interesting conversations. This was the first time Ben felt close to a person in a long time, not counting Dylan. He really liked having Max as a friend, and he hoped she felt the same. On the way to their eleventh house that night, they heard some familiar voices. Max put her arm out in front of Ben to stop him from walking, "They invited me to trick-or-treat with them. Wanna scare them and join them to finish trick-or-treating?" She asked, a glint of mischief shining in her blue eyes. Ben nodded excitedly, wanting more than anything to scare Mike as payback for what happened that morning.
Ben lowered his mask and Max did the same, the two crouched behind a bush and waited for the boys dressed as Ghostbusters to get closer.
"No, seriously. Like, I could just eat a whole bowl of nougat, straight up." Dustin admitted to his friends. Max then jumped out and screamed, Ben followed her and did the same. The boys all jumped and screamed, one of the screams sounding more high-pitched than the others. Max and Ben started laughing, and the duo lifted up their masks, revealing themselves to the group. "Holy shit! You should've seen the look on your faces!" Max said in amusement. Ben's laughter was dying down and he caught eyes with Mike, who rolled his eyes and looked away. Max made eye contact with Lucas. "And you? Who screams like that? You sound like a little girl." She finished, chuckling to herself as she turned and started walking. Ben winked at Lucas and turned to follow Max.
The four Ghostbusters all stood in confusion, not completely understanding what had just happened. Max turned back around, confused as well. "Hey, you guys coming or not? Oh, I heard we should hit up Loch Nora." The boys all gaped at her, except for Ben, who had pulled out a small pack of skittles and started eating them. "That's where the rich people live, right?" Max finished with a chuckle, turning around and walking without waiting for the boys. Ben waited for them, feeling a little bad that he hadn't gone trick-or-treating with them in the first place. He watched Dustin and Lucas practically fangirl over Max and race to catch up with her. Will followed them, but Mike stayed behind.
Ben looked over his shoulder at the retreating group, then back over to Mike. "You coming?" He asked, sincerely. Trying his best not to make Mike angry with him again. Mike just sighed in annoyance and walked to catch up with the group, taking a once over of Ben's costume. "Batman?" Mike asked. He was genuinely curious, but Ben still expected Mike to say something mean about it. He shrugged, "Yeah. Before you say anything– Yes, I know it's not a full costume and I know the mask is chipped. I accidentally stepped on it when I got home from school. And before you–" Ben was cut off.
"I wasn't going to say anything... I think it's... cool." Mike admitted awkwardly. He was trying to make an effort. Ben was baffled, he didn't know what to do. Mike had never acted like this before, he wasn't sure what Mike's reason was, but he wasn't going to say anything that would ruin Mike's new, better, attitude towards him. Ben nodded, "Oh, well, thanks." Mike gave a tight-lipped smile and nodded, walking ahead slightly but still waiting for Ben to catch up and walk with him.
Mike and Ben walked side-by-side to Loch Nora, the two being drowned in uncomfortable silence. Sure, Mike was told to be nice, but he didn't think he would be put in a situation that he would have to make conversation with Ben. What would he even talk about? What does Ben like to talk about? Does Ben even like anything? Mike suddenly realized, he really knew nothing about Ben. He felt bad, Ben had been hanging out with them for five months, and Mike hadn't made a single effort to get to know him. No wonder Ben hates me. He thought to himself.
"Another full-size. Like, seriously, rich people are such suckers." Dustin mentioned aloud in slight disbelief. He then looked to Max, "Wait, you're not rich, right?" he asked, hoping he didn't hurt the girls feelings. Ben had been listening in to the conversation, but was brought out of it by a nudge. He looked to his right and saw Mike holding out a bag of skittles out to him. Ben raised an eyebrow in question. "Here, I don't really like skittles. You can have mine." He kept holding the skittles out to Ben, who tilted his head in confusion. Mike doesn't offer him things. "You poison them?" Ben asked, only half-joking. Mike rolled his eyes. "Are you dumb? I was just given this bag. You saw it." And there he was. Mike was back to being his snippy self. Nice Mike was good while it lasted. Ben sighed and took the candy from him, tossing it in his pillowcase and walking forward to catch up with Max, Lucas, and Dustin. Not wanting to talk to Mike anymore.
Mike's face fell the tiniest bit. He screwed up with Ben again. God, why can't I just be nice to Ben? What's my deal? He thought to himself.
"What a gnarly wave, dude."
"Totally brodacious, bro!"
Lucas and Dustin said, mocking a surfer guy voice. Ben raised his eyebrows, deciding not to catch up with them anymore. Seeing as they were hogging his friend anyway. He looked to his left and spotted another house, deciding to abandon the group for a moment to go get some more candy. Ben ran up to the door and knocked thrice, waiting patiently.
Ben then suddenly felt an arm wrap around him and a hand clamp over his mouth, his eyes widened as he screamed and thrashed around. He scream was muffled and the mystery person dragged had him towards the side of the house where no one could see him and threw him on the ground. Ben gasped and scrambled up quickly, his fear-ridden eyes caught his neighbor's. "Nick?!" He asked in confusion and disbelief. "What the hell man–"
Ben was cut off by a hard punch to his right cheek. The force of the punch sending him to the ground. Ben had never been in a fight before. Sure, he's threatened to fight people, but he never actually did it. And the fact that his sixteen year old neighbor was hitting him for some unknown reason on Halloween night in a dark, secluded area, well he couldn't help but feel terrified. Another punch, right on his lower lip. Ben licked his lip, tasting something metallic. He guessed it was blood. The boy moved his Batman mask down in front of his face, hoping it would protect him somehow. Nick yanked the mask off and tossed it to the ground, stomping on it a few times until an unsatisfying crack was heard. It was broken. The sound of the mask breaking hurt worse than the punches.
Nick grabbed Ben up by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the wall. "Listen here, kid. You're gonna stop spying on me and keep your nose out of my business, got it?" He asked threateningly. It wasn't a question. Ben tilted his head to the side and spit blood out of his mouth. "I wasn't spying on you, dick-for-brains." The insult angered Nick, so he brought his knee back and slammed it into Ben's groin, causing the younger boy to groan in pain and slide down the wall of the house. "Don't say I didn't warn you." Nick said menacingly as he slowly retreated, then turning and sprinting away. Leaving Ben alone.
JAY SPEAKS!
poor ben :(
what do you guys think is up with nick?